Where To Start?

I found myself in the unenviable position of waking up to a house that looked like a cyclone had blown through it.  It many ways it had.  We arrived home Thursday evening after being on the road for a couple of days ending a lovely three week vacation.  Along with our luggage there were various bags of food and other items collected along the way home and during our vacation.  Putting things away that night might have been easier but the foodie finds had to be readied for their photoshoot and we were tired.  I took the foodie shots on Friday and puttered tidying up while being quite thankful that other than the clothes we wore on the way home the other clothes were cleaned so there was no massive amount of laundry to do.  On Saturday we debated going for a much need grocery shopping, I made a homemade chicken noodle soup and we settled in for the afternoon.  That evening we hosted an inpromtu get together of 11 people not including ourselves.  The following morning as we were still cleaning up oldest and youngest grandkids arrived so the toys came out.  We had a great barbequed meal and after they left caught up on Coronation Street while ignoring what needed to be done.  By then we were exhausted.  Sunday morning despite the weather reports was lovely so my husband went to the store for bread for the turkey stuffing, we popped the stuffed bird into the oven, then headed out to do a bit of boating that would likely be our last trip of the season.  When we got home we finished up prepping dinner as one of our kids and significant other were coming as well as a couple of friends who cancelled at the last moment.  The kitchen filled up with the larger pots, pans, roaster and a few platters that all needed to be hand washed, kids toys were everywhere, bathrooms needed cleaning, floors needed washing, vacuuming needed to be done and entertaining extras put away.  In short the house was utter chaos.  That was my morning greeting!

What do you do when faced with this type of situation?  Let's face it everyone gets tired enough or sick that even clean-up gets left for the following day.  The problem is the clean-up can pile up more so it is important to tackle as quick and as systemmatically as possible without getting over tired or discouraged.  Here are a few of my tips for dealing with this type of situation:

• don't try to do everything at once - A surprising amount of tidying and cleaning can be done in 15 minute bursts.  Do as much as you can for 15 minutes then take a break and do something else.
• start small but start - Pick up one thing and put it away.  This morning I started by just gathering all the platters into one spot beside the sink followed by putting away those little things like the salt & pepper shakers that had been left out.
• use the one in one out rule - During heavy household use as in entertaining items from the kitchen end up in the family room and visa versa.  Everytime you leave a room take one item that doesn't belong there and put it in its proper spot.  As you leave that room do the same thing.  All misplaced items will soon be back where they are supposed to be but you won't even noticed you did the tidying.
• take a stretch break - About every 15 minutes I take a 5 minute stretch break from the computer.  If I spot something out of place or a little task that needs doing (eg. load the dishwasher) I do it.
• focus on one task - A lot of my cleaning tends to be in the form of multi-tasking however focusing on one task can help big cleaning jobs go a lot smoother.  Noticed how I focused on gathering the platters.  There were 6 platters and while aside of the turkey platter were not really dirty having just held snacks they still needed washing.  Visually those they created a lot of clutter.  Washing and drying them took less than 10 minutes but when put away the kitchen suddenly looked cleaner.
• once the puttering is done - Once everything is put away I wipe down the counters, shine up the fixtures and mirros in the kitchen and bathrooms then vacuum the floors.  Finally I wash the kitchen, bath and utility room floor.  The house is back to neat, tidy, and presentable for the next round of guests.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

We're Homeside

Somewhere between our permanent residence and our vacation home the lines are getting blurred.  Both of them are home.  Our personality and lifestyle take centre front for both houses.  They are in different locations, in different climates and yet our personality is firmly stamped on both.  I'm quite please with this because regardless of where we are we are home!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

We Signed the Contract for Our Vacation Home to Rent Out

We finally have our vacation home equipped to the point we were able to sign the agreement to rent our home out when we aren't there.  It is a big step but one that we are confident will work out to our advantage.  It's amazing how much can be done through fax and internet these days.  At any rate we are ready to go with two and a half months rented already so that's a good sign!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Vacation Home Locked Closet Hinge Solution

Like many in our vacation home community we decided even before purchasing the vacation home that we would be renting it out when we weren't there.  We figured it would be better than leaving the house empty and this way we end up with the vacation home paying for itself as well as generating a little income.  Based on the figures renting the house on a short term basis for a total of 5 months all expenses are paid for the year and everything else is extra money.  So this will end up being a nice bit of rental income as well as giving us a free place to stay on vacation.

Most home owners in our vacation home community do the same thing.  Since we have no desire to cart some of our personal effects back and forth we are doing like many by setting up a locking closet.  This really is not a difficult undertaking.  Essentially all that is required is to remove the existing handset and replace it with a locking handset.  This part went smoothly but then I noticed a potential problem.

The closet we are using is in the second bedroom.  The doors are set so they swing into the room rather than into the closet.  As a result the hinge pins are on the room side of the door which means even if the door is locked someone could pop the hinge pins out to get into the closet.  While this is highly unlikely it made me a bit uncomfortable since we will be storing computer equipment, home canned foods, tools and other items not intended for use by the tenants.  I did a Google search to come up with an easy, low cost, DIY solution to this minor problem.

The solution I found was drilling a hole through the hinge then screwing in a screw through into the pin.  This would prevent removing the pin entirely unless the screw is removed but this can only be achieved on the closet side of the door.  If we securing a hinge pin at home this would be a great solution as we already have a drill to make the pilot screw hole.  However, at the vacation home that would mean buying a drill.  So we asked the helpful folks at Home Depot.

They came up with an even easier solution.  Pictured is the solution and it is a bit difficult to tell what we did from the photo.  The two centre screws of the hinge were removed.  Since the screw holes did not line up we improvised.  We put a nail adjacent to the screw hole that would line up with the empty screw hole leaving the nail out by about ¼ - inch.  What happens is when the door is closed the nail head goes into the empty screw hole so even if the pin is pulled out the door cannot be removed.  I thought this was a great solution!  We used two nails on each hinge but that is because of the design of the hinge.  One nail would be sufficient on a normal straight design hinge.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Renting Out Our Vacation Home

Renting out our vacation home is considerably different than simply renting a house out as a rental property.  We hope to rent our vacation home during the periods of time we are not using it.  That means it may be rented for a week or two at a time to as long as three months.  We have to options available to us.  We can rent the property out ourselves or we can use the rental agent.  There are pros and cons to both options but using the rental agent is the lower risk option even though we pay them a monthly fee.  In return they do the credit and security checks, security deposit, collect the rent, ensure the tenant is following the rules we set out (eg. no smoking, no pets), arrange for cleaning when the tenant leaves and in short do all the things we would be doing if we were renting it ourselves.  The real plus is they are on site within the community to take care of any problems as they arise.

We have rented vacation homes on several occasions so already had a fairly good idea of what tenants need in a rental vacation home.  In order for our vacation home to go into the rental program the home must look like a home which means it has both function and decor but it doesn't need to be extravagant or fancy.  The furniture must be good working condition and there is a minimum amount of furniture required in each room.  There is also a listing as the minimum specific extras (eg. towels, bakeware, cookware, small kitchen appliances, etc.) that must be provided.  A vacuum cleaner, washer, dryer, iron, ironing board and telephone must be provided.  The telephone is in our name but we have to put a #2 block on it restricting use to local calls only.  Long distance calls can be made by the tenant only through their own calling card or major credit card.  A golf cart must be provided and if one is not available the rental agency arranges for one with the cost coming out of the rent paid to us.  We can provide extras if desired but it isn't mandatory.  For example a popcorn maker is not on the list of required small appliances but I added one because it is a nice option to have.

Common to all the vacation homes in our community that are rented out when the owners are not using them is one or more locked closets.  Personal effects that we don't want tenants to use can be stored in the locked closet.  We can put things like non-perishable foods, clothing, toiletries and any other extras as we need which eliminates us having to bring them with us each time.  Ideally we would like our personal storage to be stocked to the point when flying all we have to bring is a carryon.  The closet we are using for this is 29" deep, 44" wide and 8' high at it's highest point.  The is one open wire shelf for hanging clothes and shelf storage but with good organization it will provide ample storage for our needs.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Vacation Home Office Futon

Vacation Home Office Futon

September 17, 2010

When we bought our vacation home it was pretty much empty.  The previous owner left a kitchen table set, patio set, couch, chair, tv stand with tv, a double sized mattress with boxpring, low boy dresser and 2 night stands.  We were very fortunate that furniture was left as it saved us a bit of money in having to completely furnish the house.  Since our intentions were to rent the house out when we weren't using it, we had no choice but to buy furnishings and all the extras required to put the house into the rental program.

We are rather savy shoppers certainly not above buying good quality used furniture or knock down furniture.  I posted earlier about the knock down furniture we bought for the vacation home office.  This is really a cute little room with double French doors set on an angle to cut one corner from the room creating a rather appealing shape.  We immediately saw the potential to use this room for extra sleeping quarters if necessary.  The problem was we didn't want it to look like an extra bedroom.  As luck would have it we found a used futon in excellent condition that is a very close match to the livingroom couch and chair.  It is the same material, same colour and only differs a bit in design.  This is nice because the office opens to the livingroom so matching colours is a nice bonus.  The futon came with two matching pillows and has extra storage underneath for bedding.  The futon cost $125.  We also bought a floor lamp for $17.99.  The total cost to furnish the den was $271.21 coming in well under our $500 budget.

A couple of decorative elements will finish off the room.  I'm thinking a couple of artificial plants (practical as they won't need care when the house is empty) and a mirror or framed print will finish off the room nicely.  These won't be expensive items either.  It is just a matter of finding something that works well with the room.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Two Easy DIY Fixes

Our vacation home is a manufactured home.  While this is a gorgeous home it is still not built like our permanent home.  For that reason we don't want to use a lot of conventional hooks, screws and attachments.  At the same time we need hooks and fasteners so we have been looking for alternatives that will not damage surfaces but still serve the desired purpose.

The main bathroom in the vacation home is a cheater bathroom.  This is the bathroom everyone uses as opposed to the bathroom off the master bedroom.  It has a full tub with shower on one side with toilet, sink and vanity on the other.  There are two doors, one opening into the hallway and the other opening into the utility room that creates a perfect alternative walk through to the kitchen.  It's not the ideal setup if you ask me but it works.  Anyway we discovered two slight problems with this bathroom that ended up being rather easy fixes.

On of the doors hit the bathtub every time it was opened.  The easy fix was a hinge stop.  What this involves is removing the hinge pin then placing a hinge stop and replacing the pin. With a little adjustment the hinge stop (top right) prevents the door from hitting the bathtub.  This fix cost under $2 and can be easily done with minimal DIY skills.

The second problem was a lack of hooks for hanging things like bathrooms or towels.  We looked for an over the door hanger system but could not find one [note: I will bring one down the next trip] so we settled for two peel and stick heavy duty hooks.  The nice thing is these hooks solve the problem without creating a problem later.  That is one of our concerns in dealing with a manufactured home.  At any rate this solution was very inexpensive at under $4 for two hooks and need minimal DIY skills.

Sometimes when looking for a solution for a home repair it is easy to overlook the extremely easy and low cost DIY solutions.  In many cases the KISS Hypothesis should kick in.  Simple, inexpensive solutions can and do work!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010